Motor oil question.

[Thomaswildchild]

hello AF people!

so i have a few minor questions on motor oil.

currently I'm using
Valvoline full synthetic 5w30

when i check the dipstick and it's about two millimeters away from add, i add a quart of oil. however i was wondering if one was enough? the dip stick say that its full. Also is it bad to mix two kinds of oil, for instance : if I use Valvoline and i had a quart of quaker state in my storage is it bad to mix them? they are the same "5w30" and are both synthetic?

thanks

Thomas Wildchild

[TENGRAM]

Originally Posted by Thomaswildchild

hello AF people!

so i have a few minor questions on motor oil.

currently I'm using
Valvoline full synthetic 5w30

when i check the dipstick and it's about two millimeters away from add, i add a quart of oil. however i was wondering if one was enough? the dip stick say that its full. Also is it bad to mix two kinds of oil, for instance : if I use Valvoline and i had a quart of quaker state in my storage is it bad to mix them? they are the same "5w30" and are both synthetic?

thanks

Thomas Wildchild

its best to put the specified amount of oil in at the oil change, rather than going by what the dipstick says. the dipsticks in these cars (and most others) are inaccurate. that said, these cars also tend to leak oil so adding oil periodically after the oil change is sometimes necessary. for now you'll be ok, but next time you change the oil, add the specified amount and then take note of where that lies on the dipstick. then when you later have to add oil you can just fill it back up to that point.

as a general rule it is not good to mix oil brands. each company adds its own detergents and additives. combining two brands' additives may have a negative effect. if you did this i wouldn't worry about it too much, just change the oil at the recommended interval (3-5k miles) and try to avoid mixing brands again. for future reference, if it is entirely necessary to mix oils because you can't find the identical brand/weight/etc, its best to first try and find a close weight in the same brand you have (ie valvoline synthetic 10w30). if they don't have that, it would be better to put the same brand's conventional oil in the same weight (regular valvoline 5w30), rather than mix two brands.

BTW, if you have some time on your hands this is a very good read: http://63.240.161.99/motoroil/